Dear Lily
by MissGoalie75
Summary: She knows he had to put away his pride to write this; thirteen, fourteen, and even fifteen-year-old James wouldn't have been able to do it. Now he's sixteen, and it seems like he's finally starting to act his age.
1. June

A/N: I've been writing this over a long period of time, going back and editing it a million times, and now I'm finally satisfied with how it's turning out. This fic will have 4 chapters in total. I hope you enjoy it!

Standard disclaimers apply.

* * *

Dear Lily

June

_Dear Lily, _

He scratches that and crumples the roll of parchment into a ball, tossing it over his shoulder. No way, she won't like that one bit. She'll somehow find a way to draw to the incorrect conclusion that he's trying to objectify her, or possess her. If he wants this to work, he has to make sure he leaves no openings for her to automatically reject him.

So he pulls out a fresh parchment, dips his quill into the ink bottle, and begins again:

_Lily, _

Better. Now…the hardest part. What the hell can he _say_? He has to sound honest, smooth, _and mature_. Three things he's totally not, at least not at the same time.

_I know you hate me but please – _

No. That sounds so _desperate_. While he's quite desperate for her attention and affection, he has some (a lot of) pride. He needs to start this better. He rips Failed Attempted Number Two into pieces and sprinkles them onto his desk. He's amused by the snow-effect until he realizes that it's just making his writing space cluttered. Swiping them away, he ponders on another way to do this.

Another parchment is rolled onto his desk and he writes:

_Lily,_

_I'm sorry._

Right to the point. Might as well not beat around the bush. But what else can he write? He'll definitely have to list every single thing he's done to piss her off, so the apology is _thoughtful_. But the thought of writing everything down makes his hand cramp; he did _way_ too many things that made her yell at, curse, and hate him over the years.

He flips the parchment to its other side and titles it: _LIST OF OFFENSES AGAINST LILY MARIE EVANS__:_

_1. Asking her out an infinite number of times, even though I've been rejected every single time. You'd think I'd get the hint after the first time. Or ten._

_2. Hexing people for the fun of it. Even though all of them are gits one way or another._

_3. Hexing her suitors and boyfriends. Except for that one in Fourth Year who tried to feel her up, she even thanked me for that; he doesn't count._

_4. Hexing/bothering Snivellus even though she's friends with him for some bizarre reason._ (He's reluctant to add this since he doesn't feel one iota of guilt, but he knows she really hates it, so he writes it down).

_5. Disrupting her studies with my failed attempts at flirting._

_6. Obnoxious displays of affection._

He can't think of anything else, but he supposes that this is a pretty good, encompassing list. So he pulls out another roll of parchment (he's going to have to buy more at this rate) and begins again:

_Lily_,

Bringing the feathered portion of the quill under his chin, he thinks for a second before he begins giggling. He was trying to be an intellect, figuring maybe if he acted like one, he would write like one, but instead he ends up tickling himself, which immediately shatters the image. Rubbing the tickled skin, he wonders what to write next.

Then it all comes to him in a rare burst of eloquence and maturity. At least for him.

It takes him a while since he's not used to spilling his emotions onto parchment, but he manages to do it for her. Grinning at the final product, he whistles as he fishes for an envelope from the piles of books and papers on his desk. But as soon as he places it in front of him, he curses. _He doesn't know where she lives_.

He knows she lives near Snivellus, but why would he ever want to know where _he _lives. Wait…why _wouldn't_ he? The Marauders could do serious damage _all year round_. He makes a mental note to talk to Sirius about it when he visits.

But back to the important matter at hand: how the bloody hell is he going to find her address?

Does Moony know? A definite possibility. He pockets the letter and leaves his bedroom in order to get to the main fireplace, where the Potters are connected to the Floo Network.

He states his friend's address clearly, and doesn't wince as the green flames envelop his entire body, transferring him to the other side of England. Thankfully, Moony's parents didn't block off the fireplace – that happened one summer and James got a nasty gash on the back of his head. To this day, Remus is the only Marauder to know of this particular moment of embarrassment.

James tries to dust himself off so he doesn't get his friend's house too dirty, but his patience is very limited, given that he's sixteen, so he goes on ahead to find Remus. It doesn't take long – Remus is sitting in his father's office, two textbooks in front of him.

"Moony, ol' chap!" James greets amiably.

Remus looks up from the textbooks and smiles. "Prongs! A pleasant surprise."

James whisks off his glasses and begins to clean the soot off them. "I need a favor from you."

The smile slips off Remus' face. "I reserve the right to flat out deny your _favor_."

James rolls his eyes. Every time Sirius or James asks Remus for a favor, he always has to declare that. He _claims_ it's because of some mishap in Third Year. You'd think he'd let that _go_ already…

"Do you know Evans' address?"

"_No_."

"No as in…'no you don't'…'or no you won't give it to me.'"

"The latter."

"But _Remy_, I'm sending her a letter."

"There is no way I'm giving you her address. She was very hesitant to give it to me back in Third Year because she was afraid I would compromise her, and I can't –"

"It's an apology note."

Remus freezes in mid rant, his mouth still open. This lasts for a good few seconds until he says, "Seriously?"

James sighs. "Thank Merlin Paddy's not here to make another lame pun."

"You wrote on parchment, something you _rarely_ do _willingly –_"

"Hey, that's not fair. I write to you guys over the summer!" James interrupts indignantly.

"And you _humbled_ yourself and _apologized_ for all the wrongdoings against Lily?" Remus continues, as if James didn't attempt to interrupt.

James sighs frustratingly. "_Yes,_" he says through his teeth.

"I have to read it. I don't trust you."

"Cheers, Moony. After five years of friendship which involve keeping your lycanthropy and our illegal animagi forms a secret, you'd think you could trust me that I wrote a bloody letter."

"Just give me the letter!"

James hands the letter to Remus, suddenly feeling very insecure. Remus has an emotionless expression on his face, the same one he uses to look over Peter's essays. James shifts and begins to pace for a while until Remus looks up from the parchment and smiles. "It's good. For you, I mean. I know I could've written a more eloquent letter…but it's clearly from you. And it's sincere."

James lets out sigh of relief.

"But I'm going to send it."

James pouts. "Why? I thought it was Moony Approved!"

"Yes, but that doesn't mean she'll want to open a letter from _you_. Once she recognizes your owl, she'll probably rip up the letter. _I'll_ send it. That way I can warn her." James still looks dissatisfied. "That's the best you're going to get," Remus adds.

"You're going to send it though, right?"

"I will. Promise."

James nods. "Okay. Cheers, mate." He turns to Remus' fireplace before he says, "Can you…?"

"It's between us."

"Thanks."

As soon as James travels back to his home, Remus pulls out a small roll of parchment and writes his own letter to Lily before sticking it in an envelope. He writes _Read First_ at the top of the envelope before tying his and James' letters to his owl, Dickens.

While he watches Dickens fly away, he hopes Lily will be graceful and take James' apology to heart. There's only so much rejection James can handle.

* * *

Lily recognizes Remus' tawny owl as he flies into her bedroom.

"Dickens, how are you?" Lily coos as she strokes the owl. Noting two letters tied to his leg, she swiftly unties them and Dickens flies over to Lily's owl, Cinnamon, in the corner.

Lily opens the letter, pleasantly surprised. They don't really correspond by letter during summers, especially since they both have telephones, but occasionally they'll write each other book recommendations; sometimes it's more fun pen-palling. She's rather backlogged right now with literature, but she's sure she can make time to read whatever his suggestion is for the sake of conversation.

The labeling of the envelopes confuses her, but she opens the one that says _Read First_ on the top.

_Dear Lily,_

_I hope you've been having a lovely summer so far._

_I know trust is a very important aspect of our friendship; I would __never__ compromise your trust since you're one of the few bearers of my secret, and, most importantly, you're one of my dearest friends. But I also have my best friends to think of. _

_James came to me today and wanted your address. Of course I didn't give I to him, but I did say that I would send the letter he wanted to send to you. Don't worry, it doesn't sing or have any hidden magical properties; it's just a letter. Take it as you will._

_I'll see you in September._

_Sincerely,_

_Remus_

Okay, definitely not a book recommendation. She's confused by this letter. Of course she knows she puts Remus in an awkward position: being her good friend, while being best friends with _James Potter_, and she appreciates the fact that Remus takes it all very graciously. But she just doesn't know – Remus does have a stronger loyalty to Potter, which was evident by the way he handled the Post-O.W.L.-Lake Incident at the end of last term.

Looking at the second letter, she now recognizes Potter's narrow handwriting. It just reads _Lily Evans_ on it, leaving enough room at the bottom for an address. She immediately wants to throw it away, knowing Potter it probably has some sort of charm in it, and while she thinks Remus to be a clever wizard…James Potter is of a different level. Of course, she would never admit that.

But she has to _trust_ Remus' word, at least a little. His opinion _does_ mean something to her. Besides, Remus _never_ tried to help Potter in his failed attempts to _woo_ her; if anything, he always tried to rein Potter in, stop him from getting on her last nerve.

_But isn't he doing the opposite by sending this_, she questions as she twirls Potter's letter slowly between her fingers. Unless…this letter was _Remus Approved_?

Remus _must've_ read this letter; he had to have. Now Lily is curious – what the hell could _James Potter_ have to write to her that Remus would not only _approve _of, but he would _send _to her, _encouraging_ her to read it?

She slowly opens it, hoping Remus was right about this being a regular letter.

When she unfolds the parchment, she closes her eyes and inhales deeply. Exhaling, she opens her eyes and begins to read:

_Lily, _

_I know I'm the last person you want to hear from at all, let alone during the summer, but I want to apologize for everything. Anything I've done to upset you, piss you off, whatever. I don't know if this will mean anything, if I really messed things up for good, but I thought I'd give it a shot._

_I really want a fresh start with you and maybe try and become friends. Or maybe that's too much…perhaps acquaintances? I would like the chance to prove that I'm not an arrogant, bullying toerag_.

_I hope you have a good summer break and I'll see you in the autumn._

_With all sincerity,_

_James_

She has to read it over five times for all the words to sink in. James Potter…_apologizing for his scheming antics_? Unheard of! She wonders if the other Marauders know about this. Probably not.

She immediately wants to dismiss this as another way to get her to go on a date with him. But…she can't. Although she doesn't want to believe it…there's something sincere about it. Honestly, she's so bloody _tired_ of fighting with him…is she so desperate that she's reading too much into this letter, which is probably a joke?

Whenever she's distressed or indecisive (or both), she creates lists. So, she pulls out some parchment and begins her list:

_LIST OF REASONS AGAINST TRUSTING JAMES WHATEVER-HIS-MIDDLE-NAME-IS POTTER__:_

_1. He's asked me out a ridiculous number of times, despite rejecting him EVERY TIME. Honestly, if he weren't so thickheaded and obnoxious he would REALIZE that I DON'T want to date him!_

Hm, doesn't that count as three? His asking her out a million times, being thickheaded, and being obnoxious? She supposes so. She pulls a new piece of parchment and begins her list again:

_LIST OF REASONS AGAINST TRUSTING JAMES WHATEVER-HIS-MIDDLE-NAME-IS POTTER__:_

_1. He's asked me out a ridiculous number of times, despite rejecting him EVERY TIME. I DON'T want to date him!_

_2. He's thickheaded (See reason one)._

_3. He hexes people for his own twisted pleasure._

_4. He hexes any guy who shows ANY interest in me._

Oh, but there _was_ that wanker in Fourth Year…she was actually very grateful that Potter was around then. She'll add that to the list of reasons to trust him. But for now she wants to continue the list of reasons _not_ to trust him, since she's most comfortable with that.

_5. He tortures Severus. _

She didn't really mean to write this down, especially since they're not friends anymore due to the Post-O.W.L.-Lake Incident, which has made this summer particularly awkward. But even though they're not friends anymore, she still doesn't appreciate the Marauders being cruel to him.

_6. He disrupts my studies with his "flirting."_

_Nothing_ annoys her more than being distracted from doing her work. She gets into a work mode, and when she's pulled out of that work mode, she gets very irritated, because it takes _a while_ to get into it.

James Potter is a master of pulling her out of her work mode, and it pisses her off. She makes sure to underline this one. And go over it so it's bolded. Now it reads:

_**6. He disrupts my studies with his "flirting."**_

She continues with her list:

_7. His obnoxious displays of affection, which are __EMBARRASSING__._

She can't even _think_ about how many times he's yelled in the corridors, proclaiming his "love" for her. And on _Valentine's Day_? Don't get her _started_. She used to love the holiday (mostly for the chocolates and the pretty flowers), but once she started attending Hogwarts and met _James Potter_…he just makes the day unbearable.

_8. He's arrogant._

There's no need to explain this one.

So, there's the list. It's pretty encompassing, and it's definitely solid proof as to why she should burn this letter and not give it another thought. She's rather pleased with herself.

But now she has to write the _other_ list, as much as it makes her uncomfortable.

Hesitantly, she writes on another roll of parchment: _LIST OF REASONS FOR TRUSTING JAMES WHATEVER-HIS-MIDDLE-NAME-IS POTTER__:_

Surprisingly, it doesn't take much hard thinking to write down reasons:

_1. He's a loyal friend._

_ a. He accepts Remus for who he is._

_2. He's kind…when he wants to be. Sometimes._

_3. He genuinely cares about the safety/wellbeing of his classmates (some of them, at least). For example:_

_ a. He saved me from that git in Fourth Year._

_ b. On complete impulse, he shoved Mary Macdonald out of the way in Fifth Year, saving her from a stray Jelly Jinx curse, accepting the brunt of it. He could've easily conjured a shield (as Sirius smartly pointed out), but James merely shrugged his shoulders, "I didn't really think about it."_

_ c. Last term, a week after the Post-O.W.L.-Lake Incident, he slapped a Second Year upside the head since he was teasing a girl, driving her to tears. I overheard him say, "That's __not__ how you win a bird over! Bloody hell, don't be a wanker to her! If you fancy her, be __nice__." Not that I condone physical violence on fellow students…it was rather sweet. The girl blushed like crazy when Potter asked her if she was alright_ (she doesn't know why she adds this last fact…probably because her cheeks were an identical shade of pink at the time?).

_4. He's intelligent. He knows when he's getting himself into something long-term. Usually he tries to avoid those like hell, but if it's important…(see reason one)._

If this were any other situation, she would say that the cons overweigh the pros: eight against four. But there's a hell of a lot more writing for the pro.

And there's something that she hasn't added to the pro list: her intuition. She can _sense_ the time and effort he put into this letter. She knows he had to put away his pride to write this; thirteen, fourteen, and even fifteen-year-old James wouldn't have been able to do it.

Now he's sixteen, and it seems like he's finally starting to act his age.

She pockets his letter and leaves her room to go downstairs and use the telephone, hoping that Remus will answer (the last time she called, his father answered, and she doesn't want to talk to the depressed man – it always unsettled her).

Thankfully, Remus' pleasant voice fills Lily's ear after three rings.

"_Hello?_"

"Remus?"

"_Lily_," Remus says, clearly hesitant. "_I assume you got the letters."_

Lily swallows and begins twisting the phone cord around her finger. "Yeah."

There's a silence. "_So…what do you think?"_

She sighs. "Honestly? I want to dismiss it. But…"

"_He's sincere."_

She nods before remembering that he can't see her. "Yeah, I know."

"_Do you have a plan?"_

She's silent as she considers her options. "Obviously, I can't ignore this. But…I _really_ hope this isn't a game."

Remus is silent for a moment before he quietly responds with, "_I think it stopped being a game for him_."

She stops breathing. What does that _mean_?

"_Look, I'm clearly biased; I want him to be happy. But I know he's made things difficult for you at Hogwarts."_

"You want me to give him a chance, don't you?"

"_Pretty much. He's growing up. We all have to sometime._"

She smiles. "You've always been grown up, I feel like."

"_Well someone has to be with misfit friends like mine._"

"All too true," she says a bit dryly. She sighs deeply, looking up at the ceiling. "Okay. I'll write him back. Where does he live? Merlin, I never thought I'd be asking _that _question…"

* * *

James waits almost two weeks with baited breath. His parents don't quite understand why their son is so restless these days (more than usual, anyway), but they figure it's just because he has no one to be with (at least until Sirius comes). There's only so long you can hang out with the house elves.

But then, _finally_, one glorious Saturday afternoon, he sees an owl flying towards his house.

_Lily's owl_.

He starts squealing like a thirteen-year-old girl for about three seconds before he composes himself.

"You can do this, you can be mature," he mutters to himself, rocking back and forth on the heels of his shoes in nervousness.

The windows are already open since it's so bloody hot out, and now he just has to wait for Lily's owl, Cinnamon, he believes (oh, whom is he kidding? He _knows_ her owl's name is Cinnamon), to make a safe landing into his bedroom.

"Come on, Cinnamon, come to me," James coos, practically hanging out of the window.

He has no patience.

Cinnamon, being as wary of James as her owner, starts slowing down right before she can be within reach of James' outstretched hands.

James sighs. "Please? I need the letter."

Cinnamon doesn't come any closer.

James sighs again. "_Fine. I'll _come in. So _you _have to also."

James falls back inside and waits impatiently for the owl to fly in, which she does a few seconds later.

James is pretty sure that Cinnamon is trying to stay as far away from him as possible as he unties the letter from her leg. When James is finished, he says, "You can rest in…cage…" he trails off incoherently because Cinnamon zooms out of James' room, already flying back to Lily's house.

James shrugs. "Oh well."

He looks down at the letter, recognizing the loopy cursive that only belongs to Lily Evans. Suddenly, he's more nervous than excited. Maybe it just tells him to stick his apology up his arse.

"Well, it doesn't matter now, does it? You said your few words of peace and it's her decision whether she wants to give you a chance," he says out loud. "Now, Potter, open the bloody letter."

He opens the envelope, managing to give himself a parchment cut. "Bloody fucker!" he hisses, bringing his hurt finger into his mouth, sucking on the wound. Whimpering, he pulls out the letter with one hand, which is very difficult for him.

But he manages it, and he reads through the letter quickly, rationalizing that the faster he reads it, the faster he can get it over with, and maybe it won't hurt as badly.

Of course, the words mush together and he can't focus, so the second time he goes through the letter, he reads each sentence slowly:

_James, _

_I appreciate your apology, thank you. I don't see the harm in trying to be acquaintances, but if this is another one of your games, I won't forgive you._

_I hope you enjoy the rest of your summer, and make sure you do your homework; I know that you and Black like to do it all the night before, which is wrong._

_See you at school._

_- Lily_

With trembling hands, James feels tears in his eyes for the first time since the family cat Midnight died when he was eight. But he's _so_ happy.

Maybe this time, this year, things will finally be different.

Of course, less than ten minutes after receiving Lily's letter, James uses the Floo Network to travel to Remus' house to share the great news.

"I'm very happy for you, Prongs, really. This is great," Remus says, reading the brief letter over, a small but relieved smile on his face. "It will certainly make my life a hell of a lot easier now that you two won't jump down each other's throats."

James beams with pride. "This could be the year."

Remus drops his arm holding the letter with exasperation. "James! No! You _can't_ pursue her anymore! This is your _only_ chance to have _any_ sort of decent relationship with her. If you so much as _look_ at her funny, she'll _never_ speak to you again. Is that what you want?"

James' grin fades a little. He knows his past years of indiscretions have royally screwed him over, but he's ready now. His feelings for Lily have gotten a little deeper, and now every rejection cuts him harder and deeper than the last. The chase isn't fun anymore; he wants something a little more tangible now.

"I know," James admits, crossing his arms. "She's a great person. I admire her. And I would like her to like me." Remus is about to open his mouth to counter what James said, but he realizes quick enough. "Not _fancy_ me…just…_like _me. Tolerate me. You know…_enjoy_ my company. Share a laugh."

Although Sirius may be James' best friend, practically his twin brother, somehow he can only admit such things to Remus.

Probably because only Remus would respond to that comment with an understanding smile. "I know you do. You'll be okay. In fact, to prove how much I trust you on this…I'll give you Lily's address."

James' eyes would've popped out of his skull and onto the wooden floor below him if his glasses weren't on his face to keep them in. "What? Really?"

Remus nods. "Yeah. You can start writing to each other now. Maybe that will ease you two into a comfortable friendship."

James grins. "Moony, you're the best. _The_ best. Remind me to buy you some books in Hogsmeade when we go back to Hogwarts."

"Count on it," Remus says as he writes Lily's address on a spare piece of parchment. But before he hands it over, Remus says in a warning tone, "Don't abuse this."

James reaches for the parchment, and before he takes it out of Remus' grasp, he says, "I won't. Promise."

"Marauder Honor?" Remus says, trying to hold back a smile.

James can't hold back his. "Even better. The _new_ and _improved_ James H. Potter gives his word."

Remus laughs. "Alright. We'll see how much better that is."

James pockets the address. "Remember, after your family trip and after the full moon in August, you're coming to my house. Wormtail will come Friday and Padfoot should be there Saturday."

"I know. Can't wait."

"When are you leaving for Ireland?"

"In an hour. My dad's finishing his packing now."

"Well, have a good trip." But before he walks back to the fireplace, he looks down at the table in front of Remus and notices that he was in the middle of writing a letter when he first came in. A rather _long_ letter, by the looks of it. As much as Remus cares about his fellow Marauders, he _never_ writes letters of this length to them. "Whom are you writing to?" James inquires innocently.

"I commend you on your proper usage of 'whom,'" Remus replies evasively.

"It's Thea Driscoll, isn't it. _Teddi_, as you're fondly calling her," James adds the last part after he glances at his friend's letter.

Remus flushes. "We're _friends_, you prat," he snaps, grabbing the letter so it's out of James' sight.

James smirks in triumph. "Huh."

"We are! And loads of people call her Teddi," he adds desperately.

"Okay, first off, _no one_ calls her Teddi except for the Hufflepuff girls, her younger sister in Gryffindor, a random Slytherin girl, and now _you_. Only those very dear to her are allowed to call her that. And secondly, the _friendship_ will change. You guys have been _library buddies_ for the past five years. You fancy her, she fancies you…I say just ask her out already."

"No offense, Prongs, but I really doubt I should be taking relationship advice from you."

"Touché." James shrugs. "Okay. Whatever. Stay _friends_. Even though I _know_ you want more." He steps into the fireplace, grabbing some floo powder. "Honestly, mate, if you _can _have more with her, and you want it, go for it." _Because it sucks when you want it, and you have no chance_, he thinks to him wryly. _And when she loathes your guts. _

Right before throwing the floo powder at his feet and stating his house's location, James catches a glance at Remus, who's folding his letter into an envelope, a thoughtful look on his face.

James grins, happy that he got the wheels turning in his friend's mind.

He travels back to his home, thinking about what he could talk about with Lily. He knows that she and Remus always talk about books, but James isn't much of a reader unless it's about Quidditch. Perhaps they can talk about that? He knows she enjoys the game, but he also knows she thinks he takes it way too seriously.

Hm, he'll have to think about this.

* * *

A/N: If you liked it, REVIEW! If you hated it, REVIEW! If you're indifferent, REVIEW! (Do you notice the pattern?)

MissGoalie


	2. July

**NOTE:** I'm well aware that JKR stated that Sirius left home at 16, and you would think he ran away after Sixth Year. HOWEVER: if you were 11 when you entered First Year, and if your birthday was between September 2-June of that school year, then you would turn 12 during your First Year. Keep going along with that train of thought, and you will discover that you turn 16 during your Fifth Year. This is what I'm going with. **So I don't want any complaints about this!**

Standard disclaimers apply.

* * *

July

James thinks about what he should write in the next letter to Lily for the next two weeks. He's getting very angry with himself, especially since he can easily write letters to Peter (they're mostly about food and lamenting over Peter's over-bearing mother), Sirius (they're mostly about food, how awful the Black family is, and Quidditch), and Remus (they're mostly about each others' families and Remus' pestering James about doing his homework).

So after one day of flying on his broomstick, hoping the flight would inspire him (which it didn't), he writes a strongly-worded letter to Remus, requesting some advice:

_REMUS – _

_I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO WRITE TO LILY – GIVE ME SOME IDEAS, DAMN IT! YOU DON'T JUST GIVE ME HER ADDRESS WITHOUT PREPARING ME WITH SOME DISCUSSION TOPICS! WRITE BACK AS SOON AS YOU GET THIS, YOU BASTARD._

___–_ JAMES

"And keep pestering him until he writes!" James tells his owl, Poppy, before setting her out. When she disappears behind the horizon, James stomps down the grand staircase, muttering: "Stupid Remus with his stupid trusting and his stupid –"

The fireplace emits a green light, confusing James briefly. He knows his parents left for London awhile ago, something about an appointment (they've been going to a lot of those lately), and they said they wouldn't be back until nightfall…

When the fire clears, James only sees one figure in the fireplace, perplexing him further.

"Er…hello?"

The figure whips his head up, and James is more than surprised to realize it's Sirius.

James cocks his head the side in bewilderment. "_Padfoot_?"

Sirius dusts himself off, grinning. "In the flesh," he says before stepping out.

James goes over to him and hugs him briefly. "Hey! I thought you weren't coming until August!"

"Yeah, well, I needed to get out of there now."

James nods. "Understandable. Where's your trunk?"

"In my pocket. Shrunk it. Are you parents here?"

"No, they're in London."

"I'll have to wait until they come back to make them normal, then."

"Unless you want to receive a _threatening_ letter from the Improper Use of Magic Office."

"Ah, the perks of living with of-age wizards – they can never tell which one is conjuring the spell!"

James nods at Sirius with a mischievous grin.

"Well, now that I'm here early, we should round up the _gang_ early!" Sirius states rather than suggests.

"We can't. Remus is in Ireland, and he can't come here until the full moon in August. Obviously his parents don't know about our special way of handling it. He has to stay with them."

Sirius pouts. "Fine. Wormy, then."

"We can try and pull him away from his mum, but you know her." James grins again. "I'm glad you're here. I was getting restless."

"When are you never restless? Come on, I've been trapped in the Black House for weeks, and I haven't had decent food in that long."

"I'm sure DeeDee can make us something," James says as they head towards the kitchen.

"Is DeeDee the one with the star on her –"

"_No_, that's _Pinky_. Honestly, Pinky is the oldest house-elf here. How can you confuse Pinky and DeeDee?"

Sirius rolls his eyes. "Well, _so_rry. Not everyone owns six house elves. My mum _still_ bitches about that to this day," he adds the second part in a terribly bitter tone, surprising James a little. Yes, Sirius hates his mother, but the way he said that…

"Did…you get into a fight with your mum before you came here?"

"She was being her usual, pleasant self."

For some reason, James doesn't really believe him. But he doesn't question Sirius again, especially since his stomach is now growling.

A chipper house-elf skips to the entrance of the kitchen, lowly bowing to the two boys.

"Master James, and Mister Sirius. What can DeeDee do for you?" she inquires.

"Food, DeeDee. Lots, and _lots_ of food," Sirius says.

James rolls his eyes at his best friend's inability to talk like a normal person. "Just make some chicken legs, mashed potatoes, and pudding, please," he tells the house-elf. James then turns his gaze to Sirius. "Your favorites. Happy?"

"Indeed."

DeeDee bows again before going into the kitchen.

"So, what are your parents doing in London?" Sirius asks as they walk to the dining room, where they will be eating.

James shrugs. "Not quite sure, really. Just mentioned something about an appointment. Whatever that means. They're retired, they shouldn't be doing that much," he lies, because he doesn't want to get into his parents' failing health. "They should be back relatively soon.

"Maybe they ran off, unable to take your annoying arse any longer."

James elbows Sirius in the gut. "Git."

Sirius rubs his stomach tenderly. "Your elbows are _pure bone_, Prongs! They're weapons! You're so lanky that you have no fat on you!"

James goes to elbow Sirius again, but this time he ducks out of the way. "Forget about the Unforgivable Curses: James Potter's bony elbows will defeat anyone!"

"Fuck you, Sirius."

"James Harold Potter! What have I told you about swearing?"

Sirius sniggers, and James takes the opportunity to elbow his former best friend in the gut again, making him howl in pain.

"James? Are you alright?" James' mother calls out.

"That was just the sound of a perfectly executed revenge," James answers conversationally.

Mrs. Potter finds them in the corridor, and her hazel eyes widen at the sight of James and Sirius. "_Sirius_? What are you doing here?" she quickens her pace to the boys, and when she reaches them, she brings Sirius into a tight hug.

It takes Sirius a second to wrap his arms around her. James smiles a little at the scene – he knows Sirius views Mrs. Potter as the closest thing to a mother.

"You're here early!" Mrs. Potter says, pulling away and smiling at Sirius.

"I couldn't stay away," he says charmingly with a wink.

James gags.

"Sirius! Good to have you home."

James looks down the corridor to find his father walking towards them, grinning, looking eerily like his son.

"Good to be home, sir," Sirius responds with sincerity.

"Please, Sirius, stop doing that. You're making me feel old."

Sirius and James chuckle.

James' mother brings her hands together. "Since you're here, we _must_ make your favorite meal for supper. I'll inform the house-elves." She gives Sirius' shoulder a motherly squeeze.

"We already told them to do that, but you may want to let them know that you and dad are home," James informs his mother.

She nods, looks at the both of them and smiles before walking to the kitchen.

"Excuse me, I just remembered I have to write a letter to the Ministry," James' father says before following his wife, turning to another corridor.

"You have the best parents. You know that, right?" Sirius says.

"Yeah, I do," James answers with honesty. There's a painful lurch in his stomach, thinking about how frail his parents look now; they're both ill, his dad worse than his mum. He loves them both dearly; they're the only family he has. And they're the closest Sirius has to a loving family.

"So…how did you manage to pull off coming here early?" James inquires casually, not liking to think about his parents' wellbeing. He thought he could wait for his friend to explain it all to him, but then again, patience was never a virtue James Potter possessed. "Did you Confund them or something?"

Sirius laughs, but it sounds a bit off. "No. I just snuck out. Left them a note that they could shove their complaints up their arses."

"Oh."

James knows his mates well, _especially_ when they lie. But what he doesn't understand is _why_ Sirius is blatantly lying to him about this. He would feel more indignant if it weren't for the fact that he's also keeping a secret from Sirius.

So out of guilt, he lets it go. For now.

"Exploding Snap until dinner?" Sirius suggests.

James winces. "I don't know…"

Sirius grins maniacally. "You're _still_ hesitant to play against me?"

"You charmed the deck last time!"

"It was brilliant," Sirius sighs.

"You shattered my glasses, and my eyebrows _and _bangs were singed off…it was horrible!"

"And I have pictorial evidence. I look at it every night before I go to sleep."

James punches Sirius shoulder. "You _wanker_!"

Sirius laughs, and for a while James allows himself to believe that things are normal.

* * *

James is lying in bed, unable to fall asleep. There's something _wrong_ about Sirius being here early, and it's driving him _mad_ that he doesn't know what it is. Sirius seems fine, but…

But.

He knows Sirius is awake on the other side of the wall; he's been pacing for over an hour, and sometimes James can hear him mutter a curse or two, or some scratches of a quill on parchment.

Something must've happened with his family.

Sitting up in bed, he puts his ear close to the wall, although he doesn't really know why. It's not like Sirius is going to go into an epic soliloquy, detailing the events that led him to this point.

But his eavesdropping rewards him when he hears Sirius muttering an enlarging spell.

Multiple times.

James keeps count, surprised to hear him use the spell six times. What the hell? Usually when Sirius stays with him in August, he only brings his school trunk. He clearly brought a lot more with him this time. _Why_?

That's when it hits James and he throws himself away from the wall: Sirius' leaving _weeks_ before he's allowed to, bringing more than just his school trunk…it all adds up to one solution: he ran away.

Sirius Black ran away from home. But why didn't he _tell_ him?

James brings a hand to his eyes, rubbing them. He wants to talk to Sirius, but he knows that Sirius will deny anything and shut him out.

Sighing, he reaches for his glasses on his nightstand, slipping them on. Maybe he can (try to) start on his homework early since there's no point in trying to sleep now.

James lights his wand silently, priding himself on being able to do some simple spells wordlessly. He also gets a secret pleasure in doing magic illegally during the summer, knowing that the Ministry would never be able to tell if he or one of his parents performed magic.

He gets out of his bed and goes to his desk to grab a textbook and some parchment. When he picks up the textbook, a piece of parchment falls out, and he immediately recognizes it to be Lily's address, which he stuffed inside as a way to prevent himself from using it right away, in case he ended up writing a completely inappropriate letter.

Instead of bending down to pick it up, he stares down at it. Is this a sign? Should she write to her? About Sirius?

James bites his bottom lip in a rare moment of insecurity, debating with himself. He would _never_ tell any normal acquaintance of his about Sirius and his familial problems, but this is _Lily Evans_. She's understanding and kind, and maybe she can help. Besides, Remus isn't here right now, and James needs someone like him.

So James takes a seat at his desk and begins writing to her, checking the door every so often to make sure Sirius doesn't make a surprise entry. He'll have to wait until Poppy comes back from Ireland, and with that realization, he grimaces in guilt. He managed to find something to write, after all.

Remus is going to kill him.

* * *

Two days later, Poppy comes back, and James quickly retrieves the letter, taking it out and flattening it out on his desk.

_James – _

_You're an overgrown infant, you know that? Your owl wouldn't stop __pecking__ me until I wrote you! Barmy wanker._

_I don't know what you could talk about. I would suggest books, but you only read books regarding Quidditch, and I doubt she would like to talk about that with you, since your default mode when it comes to that is "arrogant arsehole."_

_You could simply ask about her summer plans and what she has been up to. It's not like you have to bare your soul to her. In fact, I warn you not to do that. Please, don't do anything that remotely relates to your emotions, or more importantly your hormones. It's likely to bring about disaster._

_NOW STOP PESTERING ME ON MY VACATION._

___– _Remus

Definitely a lot nicer than James was expecting, but then again, it probably would've been a lot different if Remus could actually respond to his face.

James looks down at the letter he had already written to Lily, which pretty much goes against every warning Remus spelled out for him.

Deciding to think about whether or not to send the letter, he waits another two days to allow Poppy to rest.

On the morning of the second day, his decision comes to mind in a very rational, well thought out way: _Fuck it, I'm just going to do it!_

He sends the letter before heading downstairs for breakfast, knowing that Sirius won't be up for another few hours and there would be no point in waiting for him to eat.

* * *

Lily slams her bedroom door shut, finally allowing the tears to stream down her face. She's just gotten in another row with her sister, and she _hates_ it. And it kills her that her sister can't stand her; Lily doesn't hate her sister in the slightest. Yes, she thinks Petunia can be an annoying prat, and she thinks she has terrible taste in blokes, but she still _loves_ her. Once upon a time they used to be so close…

There's a tapping on her window, which distracts her from her self-pitying. The source of the pecking is an owl, and while it looks familiar, it doesn't belong to any of her close friends.

She goes over to the window to open it, allowing the owl to come in.

"Hello there," she says before sniffling, untying the letter. "I wonder whom you belong to."

She unrolls the letter and suddenly recognizes that the owl belongs to James Potter. She believes her name is Poppy. Yes, it is, because she always thought the name was adorable, despite it being the same name as Madam Pomfrey (Potter claims that he didn't know it was the same name as the Hogwarts Matron, but he was too attached to the name to change it).

But that's not the matter at hand: it seems Remus caved in and gave Potter her address.

She takes a deep breath. "It's okay. Remus wouldn't have done it unless he completely trusted him," she mutters to herself before opening the letter.

_Lily,_

_I'm sorry, but Remus is away on vacation, which his family never does, and I don't want to bother him, and I honestly don't know whom else I could talk to about this. I figured that since you're just as, if not wiser than him, you would be able to help me._

_It's Sirius. He usually comes over to my house in August, but he came weeks early. And you don't know the Black family (although I'm sure you've heard rumors), but they've __never__ let him come to my house early; they despise the fact that we're friends. He also brought all his stuff with him…_

_I think he ran away. And not for-a-few-days-he'll-come-back-and-all-will-be-"well" kind of thing – I think he's been kicked out._

_Anyway, I have no bloody clue how to approach him about it. He won't talk about what happened, avoiding the issue all together._

_I know this is a bit much for "acquaintances," but it would be great it if you could help me out. I'm at a loss._

___– _James

Lily chews on her bottom lip. She knows how much Sirius hates his family (he makes that pretty clear every year), but would he _really_ run away from them?

_He would_, she immediately thinks, taking a seat on her bed. The Black family is full of dark wizards, many of them supporters of the one whom people are now calling _He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named_, and she knows that Sirius would never want any part in that.

She gets up and starts pulling out some parchment, ink, and quills. Even though Lily can't (couldn't?) stand Potter, she knows without a doubt that he's loyal to his friends (see reason one on _List of Reasons For Trusting James Whatever-His-Middle-Name-Is Potter_), and he wouldn't have written this unless he were seriously concerned.

She starts writing, pausing every now and then to make sure her response is thoughtful. She also looks at Poppy, who's a beautiful, majestic-looking owl (_nothing but the best for the Potters_, she thinks wryly). Poppy looks back at her patiently, waiting for her to finish the letter.

She smiles at her before stroking Poppy. "Your master can be a right prat sometimes. But he has a good heart," she tells the creature.

Poppy hoots in response, most likely an affirmative one.

Right when she seals her letter for Potter, another owl comes flying in. This time, she immediately recognizes it.

"Adam's owl! Pepper, right?" she jumps out of her chair giddily, going over to the black and white spotted owl.

Adam. Adam Shields. Ravenclaw of the same year, the best Keeper Hogwarts has seen in years, _incredibly_ attractive, _and_ he's probably going to be her boyfriend come the start of the new term.

She opens his letter happily, finding an article from a newspaper she doesn't know of and a letter that's over a foot long. She beams, temporarily forgetting about Potter's letter. Poppy hoots sadly in the corner, unheard over Lily's laughter as she reads Adam's letter.

* * *

It takes a little less time than the last for James to get a response. He's giddy, but not nearly as out of control as before. And he thinks that even Cinnamon is beginning to warm up to him: she did stay with Poppy for a quick drink before flying out of his room.

Just in case, he locks his door before opening the letter. The last thing he wants is Sirius to walk in now; not only would he find out about his communicating with Lily, but he'd be _really_ angry to find out that they're talking about _him_.

This time, he's not quite as nervous when he unfolds the letter (although he does feel a certain buzz knowing that it's from her).

_James, _

_I'm by no means a close friend of Sirius' and I don't claim to know him as well as you do, but I do know that Sirius likes to keep everything light; this isn't exactly a light topic. This is typical of him to avoid problems as if they don't exist._

_But you have to be frank with him. You have to tell him that you know he ran away, and tell him that you're here for him when he's ready to talk about it. The fight with his family before (and you know there was a fight before) must've been too awful for words. Who knows what his family said to him._

_Sirius is very lucky to have a caring friend like you. It will all work out, you'll see._

_Don't worry – I tell anyone about this._

___– _Lily

James lets out a breath and murmurs, "Thank you," to himself, folding the letter in his drawer with her first letter.

But now is the hardest part: confronting Sirius about the issue.

He'd really rather not.

So instead of directly approaching Sirius about it, he asks him what the hell they're going to do for Peter's birthday.

"We should prank him," Sirius suggests.

"We did that for his fifteenth. We should do something nice for his sixteenth," James points out. "Remember those nice Quidditch supplies he got for my birthday? And those Zonko's products for yours?"

Sirius pouts. "Fine. Let's begin planning. Too bad Moony isn't here to help us out – he's good with coming up with gifts."

James ignores the responsible voice in the back of his mind (it sounds an awful lot like Moony) yelling at him to stop fooling around. Of course, he tries to ignore it as much as possible, until after the third night of restless sleep, he's had enough.

Gathering his courage the next morning, he goes downstairs to where Sirius is lounging, a half-eaten croissant in his hand. He takes a seat across from him and clenches his teeth before saying, "Padfoot," to get Sirius' attention.

"Yeah?"

James chews on the inside of his cheek. "I…uhm…did you run away?" he inquires rather bluntly.

Sirius freezes. "What do you mean?"

"Did you run away from home?"

Sirius tries to laugh, but his smile doesn't reach his eyes. "Why would you think that?"

"You left almost a month earlier than you're supposed to. You took all your belongings with you," James supplies, trying hard not to be accusatory. The week before, while Sirius was in the loo, James snuck a peak into Sirius' room, confirming his suspicions that Sirius brought along most of his belongings.

Sirius clenches his jaw and looks down from the ceiling. "Yeah."

James nods. "You could've told me, mate. Are you okay? What happened?"

Sirius scoffs. "The usual. I was tired of listening to their bullshit. And…" he trails off.

"What?"

Sirius curls his hands into fists. "They wanted me to become one of _them_," he says which such acidity in his voice that it makes the hairs on the back of James' neck stand on end.

"One of…?" Then James realizes. "A _Death Eater_?"

"Shh!" Sirius hisses, sitting up properly.

James purses his lips together. "Are you serious?"

For a moment, James thinks Sirius is going to make a pun, but he merely says, "I'm here, aren't I?"

James lets out a shaky breath. "You fought about it."

"It was ugly," Sirius agrees. "I was blasted off the family tree. Literally."

James winces. "I'm sorry."

"I'm not," Sirius says strongly. "I never wanted to be a Black. Now it's official. I've been disowned, and I couldn't be happier."

Although James believes Sirius on some level, he still can't help thinking that Sirius is still shaken up about it.

"I've kept a secret from you, too," James finds himself saying as he looks down at his feet.

Sirius cocks his head to the side. "What?"

"I wrote a letter to Evans a few weeks ago."

Sirius freezes for a moment. "Pull the other one," he says with a hint of a demand.

James tries not to sigh. "I sent her a letter apologizing for everything," he answers, not quite looking at his friend.

"But you don't know –" and then Sirius realizes, "Moony helped you out."

"She never would've read my letter otherwise," James defends himself.

Sirius is clearly hurt by it. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I'm sorry, really. I was just…embarrassed about it. You know, if she rejected me."

After a moment, Sirius nods in understanding. "I suppose. But you know you can tell me anything, right?"

"I could say the same to you," James quips.

"Okay, we were both wankers. Agreed?"

"Agreed."

"So, want to go flying?"

"Yeah, if you don't mind getting your arse kicked by the youngest Qudditch captain in seventy years," James says lightly, his patented cocky grin on his face, relieved that they managed to easily put this behind them.

Then again, they _are_ best friends.

"I doubt that. Not with my excessive use of cheating maneuvers," Sirius says in a singsong voice as he saunters out of the living room. "Besides, you can't say that anymore!"

James scrambles to his feet. "If you damage my broom again, I'll kill you!"

* * *

Later that day, two owls arrive with Sirius' and James' O.W.L. results. Of course, both received ten "Outstandings" each. In celebration, James' parents claim that they will all the boys to buy anything they wanted the next time they're in Diagon Alley.

After Sirius turns in, stuffed from eating too much cake, James sneaks out of his room to his parents' and quietly tells them why Sirius is really here.

Mrs. Potter sighs sadly. "I figured as much."

James is floored. "You, too?"

"Orion Black did shoot me a nasty glare a week ago in the Ministry," Mr. Potter adds thoughtfully.

James sighs. "Merlin. I thought you two were oblivious. Why didn't you sit him down or something?"

"We could say the same to you," Mr. Potter points out.

"You usually lack tact under normal circumstances."

"Thanks, Mum."

Mrs. Potter gently strokes the side of James' face. "You wanted him to tell you when he was ready. Very mature."

James squirms uncomfortably. "I didn't really wait…I kind of cornered him when I couldn't take it anymore."

Mr. Potter chuckles. "Well, two weeks is a long stretch of time, especially for you."

James decides to ignore his father's comment and asks them, "It's okay if Sirius lives with us, right?"

"Of course! No need to ask such a silly question. There's a reason why we never questioned Sirius, you know. This is his home."

In a rush of affection for his parents, James hugs them both, grimacing a little at how frail they feel in his arms.

"Sleep well, Jamie. We love you," Mrs. Potter says quietly, a warm smile on her face as James walks out to the corridor.

"I love you, too," James says back just as quietly before shutting the door behind him.

In all honesty, James is a little freaked out by how _maturely_ he's now handling this situation. Remus would be proud. Or he will be, soon enough when he gets back from that blasted trip.

As he lies in bed that night, he wonders how to exactly inform his best friend that his feelings for Lily are genuine now. Not that they weren't before, but instead of her suitors bothering him, it actually _hurts _seeing her flirt with them. Like when he watched her hug that Adam fellow at the end of the term, James could've sworn his heart had torn in half.

He knows that once they get back to school, they're going to start dating. Adam Shields, Ravenclaw Keeper. James always found it kind of funny that his last name fits so perfectly with his Quidditch position. He's a decent bloke, James will admit (begrudgingly), and he's a talented player (James will _never_ admit that), and if Lily is going to date someone (who isn't James), than he supposes that Adam is a decent alternative.

He thinks about writing his thank you note to Lily, but he wants to put it off one more night, because he knows after this one, there's simply no reason for them to continue.

* * *

"Hey, Prongsie. What're you writing?"

Shit_fuck_. He didn't shut the door, did he?

James slowly turns in his chair and finds Sirius standing in the doorway. No, no he did not.

Again, shit_fuck_.

"Er…nothing…"

Bad, terrible, _awful_ idea. James knows that Sirius _will_ find out about this, and he won't rest (or stop bothering the hell out of James) until he finds out.

"Oh, _rea_lly?" Sirius drawls, sauntering over to James' desk.

James, of course, panics. "It's to Evans."

Sirius stops walking. "Oh. Right. You're chums now, I forgot."

"_No_! Just thanking her for giving me a second chance. You know, being polite. It would probably take me a million years to be _chummy_ with Evans."

Sirius' brow furrows at James' somewhat resentful tone. "Prongs…you don't…_really_ fancy her, do you?" he asks with uncharacteristic seriousness.

James swallows and avoids Sirius' probing gaze. His gray eyes can be intense sometimes.

"Kind of," James finally admits after a few moments.

Instead of teasing, Sirius shakes his head, his long hair falling in front of his face for a second. "Oh, Merlin. I had a feeling this was going to happen."

James cocks his head to the side. "What?"

Sirius gives him a sympathetic smile. "When you would fall for that feisty ginger."

James half-heartedly throws his quill at him. "Shut up."

Sirius bends down to pick the quill up. "No, but, uh…I saw you, you know. Watching Evans and Shields on the platform. I'd never seen that look on your face before," he says as he twirls the quill between his fingers.

James shrugs.

"They're going to start dating, you know. If you really want to be friends with her, you can't be a git to him."

"I know. Besides, I've always liked the guy. He was never a sore loser when it came to Quidditch and my scoring goals on him. He always congratulated me at the end of games."

"Yeah, too bad you didn't do the same when we lost to them two years ago."

"I was angry at Schulman, like the rest of the bloody team, for getting distracted while he was going after the Snitch. Thank Merlin we dropped his pathetic arse."

"Oh, _right._ What did he say he got distracted by? A bird?"

"It was a _butterfly_. He _claims_ that it had a wingspan of six inches. Daft wanker."

Sirius smiles in amusement. "Not the brightest kid."

"And thank _Merlin _he won't be in all of our classes anymore. I'd like to know how many O.W.L.'s he got."

"Probably two to match the number of brain cells he has in his head."

James shakes his head, smiling.

They fall into a comfortable silence for a few moments before Sirius asks in a hesitant voice, "Can I live with you? At least until I'm of age. I've been doing some calculating with the amount of money I have, and I should –"

"Shut up, Padfoot. You're more than welcome to live here for as long as you like. My parents love you, and I think you're alright."

Sirius grins. "Thanks, mate."

"Don't mention it."

* * *

Lily wonders where the hell summer has gone. In a week, it'll be August, and then she'll have to start getting ready for school. But there's really no need to dread school anymore, right? After all, Potter isn't going to be asking her out every other day. In fact, they should be relatively friendly now.

But the problem with this is that she hasn't told her friends about their, for a lack of a better word, _pen paling_. She knows what comments they're going to make, and frankly, she doesn't want to hear them; she'll never live it down.

With this thought, Poppy flies into her bedroom, landing beside her record player, which is playing _The White Album_. She closes her eyes, wishing that James Potter didn't attempt to act like an adult.

Poppy hoots impatiently, snapping Lily out of her stupor. She goes over to the owl, muttering an apology as she unties the letter from her leg. As soon as Poppy is free, she joins Cinnamon in her cage. They hoot at each other, and Cinnamon makes room for Poppy to take a drink from her bowl.

Lily smiles at the exchange before looking down at the letter in her hands. Honestly, she kind of wants to move on with her life; she doesn't want any sort of relationship with him. Why can't they just ignore each other in the corridors?

She opens the letter slowly, unwilling.

_Lily, _

_I thought you would like to know that I confronted Sirius, and we've cleared the air. Yes, he did run away, and his family consequently disowned him. Apparently they wanted him to become a Death Eater, and Sirius couldn't take it anymore. Understandable, right?_

_Thanks for your advice. Without it I probably would've handled it very badly, knowing me._

_I won't bother you with my problems again since now I can reach Remus, whom I usually annoy._

_Enjoy the rest of your summer._

_Sincerely,_

_James_

"It's okay," Lily automatically says out loud in response to last statement. She bites her bottom lip, wondering how the _hell_ he's capable of _doing_ this to her. It angers her, a lot. She knows he's charismatic, but he's not even _trying_ in this, and it somehow makes him all the more…

Attractive.

_STOP RIGHT THERE, LILY EVANS_, she internally demands, crumpling the letter in his fists.

But there's no denying it: James Potter is an appealing individual.

Sure, he's not as handsome as Sirius, and he's not a gentleman like Remus, but there's _something_ about James Potter that lures you in, making you feel like you're the most important person in the world when he looks at you. His laugh is infectious, his roguish grin always making girls swoon; every professor loves him.

At school, more than once (a day), Lily finds herself having to look away from him, having stared a beat too long.

But looks and charm aren't everything: he isn't a good person, at least not all the time, and Lily _can't_ be attracted to someone who curses other students for sport, or tortures her best friend (even though Severus isn't her friend anymore).

And yet, despite these flaws, some days she looks at him and can't help but think how perfect he really is.

She starts to pull out a spare piece of parchment, but then realizes that there's nothing left to say.

She's a bit saddened by this, but she forces herself to get over it, because this is exactly what she wants, right?

Right?

* * *

A/N: Thanks to everyone who put this story on their alerts/favorites list. And a MILLION thanks to those who reviewed – you guys are too cool for words.

Please review!

MissGoalie


	3. August

A/N: Second to last update! Exciting stuff.

Standard disclaimers apply.

* * *

August

If James were completely honest with himself, he never expected to hear from Lily again. After all, he was quite lucky that he got a response to his last letter; she really is one of the most thoughtful people in Hogwarts.

But here he is, standing by his bedroom window, untying a letter from Cinnamon's leg.

This time, the owl quickly goes to Poppy, and the two seem to have bonded over at Lily's house. As he opens the envelope, he goes over to the door and shuts it with his hip, not wanting Sirius to walk in on him again.

He pulls out her letter and begins reading, strangely no longer nervous about what she wrote.

_James, _

_I'm glad everything worked out with Black, even though you really had nothing to worry about. Regardless, he's lucky that he has a friend like you to care about him. _

_Enjoy the rest of your summer._

_– Lily_

James sighs, knowing this is it until he sees her on September first. Well, it's less than a month away – he can certainly wait until then, especially since Peter and Remus will be arriving soon.

"_Prongsie_! They're _here_!" James hears Sirius yell from downstairs.

James is surprised that Sirius is even up at this hour, but he supposes that Sirius must be excited to see them.

Putting her letter with the others in his drawer, James quickly leaves his bedroom to greet his friends.

He finds Remus dusting himself off as Peter ungracefully trips out of the fireplace, Sirius steadying him. He grins at them.

"The Marauders together again!" James exclaims cheerfully as he slides down the banister. When he lands on the ground, he goes over to Peter and Remus to briefly hug them. "How was your vacation, Moony?"

Remus sighs happily. "Wonderful. I read in peace, finished my homework in peace, and did other things in peace. Did I mention it was peaceful?"

"Sounds peaceful," Peter chirps.

"More like _boring_," Sirius corrects, snorting. "You must've missed us terribly."

"Not really…"

"We bring excitement into your life, don't deny it."

"Padfoot's right, Remy. You can't deny we bring a little _flare_ into your existence," James adds.

"I have enough _flare_ in my life, thank you very much_,"_ Remus retorts, but he has an amused smile on his face. "Where are your parents?"

James winces a little. "Appointment in London."

"Again?" Sirius says, confused.

"Yeah…it's just another check up."

But Sirius, Remus, and Peter can sense it's something more serious than that.

"Are they okay?" Peter inquires, plucking ash off his shoulder.

James shrugs. "For now."

A somber silence hangs between them for a few moments before Peter's stomach growls, effectively breaking the tension.

"Sorry, I skipped breakfast because I wanted to get here and avoid another moment with my mum," Peter explains sheepishly.

"Understandable, mate," Sirius says, wrapping an arm around Peter's shoulders. "Off to the kitchen!"

Sirius and Peter skip ahead while Remus and James lag behind.

"Did you end up writing to her?" Remus murmurs.

"Yeah, I'll talk to you about it later. But long story short: I told Sirius about talking with Lily. Peter still doesn't know, but I figured he wouldn't be hard to tell."

Remus nods. "I'm glad you told Sirius…you know how he can get."

James nods. Then a sly smile grows on his face. "So…Remy…what about –"

"We're _still_ friends, you twit."

"Okay. Just write to me when you set the date."

Remus jabs James in the stomach, causing him to keel over in pain.

Sirius and Peter stop walking to find the source of the howling, surprised to see Remus holding back laughter and James clutching his stomach in pain.

"And Sirius thinks _my_ elbows are deadly," James mutters, rubbing the bruised skin.

Sirius barks a laugh. "Good job, Moony! Way to exact revenge for me."

"It really wasn't for you; it was more to get him to shut up. Quite barbaric, really, but we're not allowed to use magic, so…"

"Like that's ever stopped us!"

"James' parents aren't _here_…did you forget already? Honestly, I think you have the attention span of a goldfish."

"Dogs have short attention spans also. Perhaps something goes wrong when he transforms back and forth," Peter points out.

James wheezes out a laugh. Sirius hits Peter upside the head.

"Can we get food and not participate in violent behavior?" Peter whines, rubbing the back of his head.

"You had that coming. But you're right, my fickle friend. Let's go!"

James is so glad that he's with his friends again.

* * *

Lily kind of wishes she asked James (since when is he not Potter?) if he told anyone besides Remus of their corresponding. She knows she gave no way for him to really write anything significant back in her last letter; they're done.

Unless _she_ writes something. He "bothered" her with one of his problems…she could do the same, right? But there wouldn't be any point – the only significant problem she has in her life, and it's a constant one, is her estrangement from Petunia. And why the hell would Lily ask advice from James? He has no siblings; he could never really understand, and that's not his fault.

She sighs, deciding to leave her room and sit outside in the sun. She makes sure to grab a towel to sit on and her mum's ridiculously large straw hat, knowing that without it, her face will be as red as a tomato in a matter of minutes.

As she basks in the warmth of the sun in her backyard, she's hit with a pang of regret; she really should've asked him, because she _still _hasn't told any of her friends about James. Honestly, she _dreads_ hearing their reactions; they're just so _irritating_ about her "feelings" for James, which are nonexistent.

They would make a big deal out of nothing, which is what this whole thing is.

She opens her eyes and finds herself staring at Severus' house. Discomfort and sadness gnaw at her insides as she wonders how they could've fallen apart the way they did. Around this time last year, he would be beside her, and they would be sharing lemonade, talking, or just sitting and reading together.

Her throat closes as she remembers all the times James warned her about him, how he's getting deeper and deeper into the Dark Arts, and how she shouldn't be with him.

It seems James was onto something for all those years. How could she have been so blind?

Or maybe it wasn't even her being blind – she just chose to ignore it; after all, he treated her just the same as he always had. But then he called her a Mudblood, and that's when she realized that he couldn't be the same Severus she knew and loved anymore.

She sees someone stalking out of Severus' house, and she's stunned to realize it's him; she hasn't seen him outside at all this summer.

Not wanting him to see her, she stands up, grabs her towel, and quickly goes inside.

* * *

It's a Marauder tradition that the four of them go to Diagon Alley and buy their school supplies together. They would first go to Gringotts to get their money, and then they would go to Madam Malkin's to get new robes (this was normally for James because he tends to grow a few inches every year). After that, they would go to Flourish and Blotts for their textbooks, and by this point, Sirius, James, and Peter complain of starvation, so they then go to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour where they would eat sundaes for lunch, and then spend the rest of the day at either Quality Quidditch Supplies, Gambol and Japes Wizarding Joke Shop, or Obscurus Books (this is when they split up, with Remus usually book-shopping alone), with periodic stops to Florean Fortescue's. At the end of the day, they pick up the newly tailored robes, and floo to the Potters for a lovely supper.

Ice cream is basically the only incentive to get Sirius and James to actually go to Diagon Alley buy their schools supplies.

"Now boys, don't eat too much ice cream; we don't want another repeat of last year, right, Sirius?" Mrs. Potter says, giving Sirius a warning stare.

Sirius winces at the memory. Last August was probably the only time in Sirius' life when his black hole of a stomach completely failed him – he was sick for two days, and it wasn't pleasant. At all.

"I won't, Mrs. P. Promise."

She smiles at them. "Alright. Make sure you're back in time for dinner. Have fun!"

"Cheers, Mum," James says, being the first to step into the fireplace and use the Floo Network.

He waits for the others to get there, automatically worrying about Peter. The poor guy screws up every once in a while and ends up in the wrong place. Thankfully, he never lands somewhere dangerous, but it still doesn't stop James from being concerned.

Peter follows after James, and then Remus and Sirius quickly afterward.

"Oh! Wormy! You're here!" Sirius says, surprised.

"Screw you! It doesn't happen _that_ often!"

"It happened last year. Where did you end up last time? Scotland?"

"No, I ended up in Wales. And it took me two seconds to meet up with you guys!"

"What about that time two years ago where you ended up in _Switzerland_?"

"I learned some useful German phrases over there. But I had a bloody _cold_ so I couldn't talk properly! _That's_ the only reason why I ended up there!"

"We're just joking, Petey. You know we love you," James says, gently nudging Peter. "Even if flooing for you is a constant gamble. I'm concerned about how you'll do with Apparating."

Peter groans. "I'm going to fail that test so many times."

"I wouldn't blame you if you didn't apparate. It's such an uncomfortable thing," Remus says. "And it's not safe at all if you don't know what you're doing."

"Which is why it's great."

"Padfoot, you're the _last_ person I would _ever_ want to side-Apparate with."

"Ye have little faith in me, Moony!"

They're walking down the cobblestone street of Diagon Alley, trying to make their way through the crowds in order to get to Gringotts.

As they approach the building, Sirius nudges James.

"Hey…would you mind…? I don't have access to a lot of money," Sirius mutters in James' ear.

"It's fine, Sirius, don't worry about it. In fact, while we're here, you should open up your own vault," James suggest as they go through a set of silver doors before entering the lobby.

"What are you two muttering about?" Peter asks, unwilling to look at the goblins that fill the interior of Gringotts. They scare him for some reason.

"Nothing, just…talking about opening my own vault," Sirius explains rather evasively.

Remus stops James and Sirius in their tracks and gives Sirius a hard stare. "Why would you need to do that? You have another year until you're of age."

Sirius sighs in defeat, knowing he can't keep this secret forever. "I kind of ran away…"

Remus' eyes widened. "You did _what_?"

"I was going to tell you, but I didn't really want to tell anyone…it's not a huge deal, I swear. It's nothing. They weren't even my real family anyway. You guys are."

Remus sighs, rubbing his eyes. "Oh, Sirius…" He lowers his hand and stares at his friend concernedly. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I'll just be living with Jamie-boy in the meantime. The only problem with this situation is that I can't access any of the money in my family's vault, so, I'm kind of broke."

Remus claps a hand on Sirius' shoulder. "Welcome to the club, Padfoot."

Sirius wraps his arm around Remus. "Two poor, kindred souls that we are."

"I'm not sure you can actually open your own vault until you're seventeen," Remus adds thoughtfully.

"But I'm disowned! I don't have any guardians."

"We could ask."

They go up to a desk with a particularly unfriendly-looking goblin behind it.

"Excuse me, but we were wondering if it were possible to open a vault if you're under seventeen," Sirius asks in a way that would normally charm the listener in seconds.

Too bad this goblin is not impressed.

"Yes, with the guardian's consent."

Sirius' face falls. "What if you don't have a guardian? Or your guardian disowns you?"

"You'd have to go to the Ministry and plead your case, because that seems to be a domestic issue. We don't deal with, or care about those problems."

Sirius sighs in defeat before turning to the rest of the Marauders. "I'm not going to the Ministry. That's just a load of bollocks and a waste of time. It's not like I want them to accept me back in the family, anyway."

"They would technically be forced to take you back, since I believe this is considered a form of child abuse," Remus corrects Sirius.

"Whatever. You get the point." Then Sirius turns back to the goblin and gives him a winning smile. "Alright. Thank you for your time. Could you please then take us to three vaults, then?"

The goblin glares at Sirius. "One moment. I have to find an employee whose job is to do such menial tasks."

As soon as the goblin leaves, James whistles lowly. "He really hates you, Padfoot."

"Impossible! Everyone loves me!"

Remus rolls his eyes.

"Don't you roll your eyes at me, Moony! You know it's true!"

"I wasn't disagreeing with you. I sadly agree with that obnoxious, self-obsessed declaration. It's the only explanation as to why you haven't been expelled."

"_Yet_. We still have two more years," Peter points out.

"Gentlemen, follow me," a shorter, more friendly goblin from the previous one says by their feet, startling them.

They work their way down the vaults, going to Remus', then Peter's, and finally James', the last of which has a ridiculous amount of gold.

James makes sure to grab extra for Sirius. And as he's stepping out, he suddenly remembers his promise to Remus.

"Oh! I owe you a few books, Moony!" James walks back into his vault and pockets a few more galleons.

Remus smiles at James. "I told you that you could do it at Hogsmeade."

"Yeah, but you like the Diagon Alley shops better, right?"

"That I do. Cheers."

"Why do you owe Moony books?" Sirius inquires as James gets back onto the cart.

"For mailing my letter to Li-Evans."

"Wait...you wrote to Lily Evans this summer?" Peter asks in shock.

"Yeah…sorry I didn't tell you before, Pete," James says, sincerity in his face.

Peter shrugs. "That's cool. She write back?"

"Yeah. I think we're…" James trails off, not quite sure what to call them, exactly.

"They're in a good place," Remus finishes for him.

"Exactly."

"Well, that's good. I'm happy for you, Prongs."

James grins at Peter. He really appreciates his friend's easygoing nature.

Once they get to the surface, much to Peter's relief, Sirius declares, "Let's get ice cream!"

"It's ten o'clock in the morning. And we have to get new robes for James _and_ get our textbooks before we eat. Didn't you eat breakfast? I distinctly recall your having three helpings of eggs and sausage," Remus says in a bored tone, as if he's a worn out parent talking to a continuously misbehaving child, which is an accurate description of Sirius Black. And Remus, for that matter.

"I was thinking about that amazing nut sundae I usually get, and it made me really want one," Sirius explains.

"You'll have one in a few hours, keep it together."

They exit the bank and head toward Madam Malkin's. When she first spots the Marauders, she beams at them. James Potter is one of her favorite customers, especially since he has to come in once, maybe twice a year to get new sets of robes.

"Mr. Potter! I was wondering when I would see you," Madam Malkin gushes. She grabs James' wrists, bringing him closer to him so she can get a better look at him.

"You grew another few inches. Remarkable."

"I'm slowing down. Just two this year," James comments.

"Stand up there and I'll get measuring. Do you boys need new robes?"

"We're good this year, Madam Malkin, but thanks," Sirius says.

Madam Malkin turns a delicate shade of pink and Remus discreetly rolls his eyes.

The Marauders take a seat in some chairs and wait (relatively) patiently as James gets measured for new robes. After about twenty minutes, Madam Malkin tells James to come by at the end of the day to pick them up.

"Ice cream?" Sirius exclaims hopefully.

Remus sighs. "_Textbooks first_. We do this _every _year, and we do it in _this_ specific order. I swear you get more incorrigible with every passing year."

They walk through the crowds again, this time managing to spot some fellow Hogwarts students. It suddenly comes to James' attention that he _may_ bump into Lily here…but what are the odds of that?

"Remus!" they all hear someone call out in the crowd.

They look around, finding a girl with dirty blonde hair and an infectious smile weaving through people to reach them.

"Teddi!" Remus says automatically before turning pink.

Sirius and James snigger. "Hey, Thea," they say.

Thea beams at them, and at Remus in particular. "Hi guys. School shopping?"

"Unfortunately," Sirius laments.

"Ignore him, he actually enjoys it," Remus says. "How are you?"

"I'm good, thanks. And you guys?"

"Good," they chorus back.

Someone bumps into Thea, making her stumble forward into Sirius, who helps stabilize her. She fixes her black headband on her head, glancing back at the wizard who knocked into her. "I hate the crowds here. So obnoxious," she says. "Well, I should get back to my parents and Tate. I just saw you guys and thought I'd say hello."

"Will you be here for long?" Remus asks, ignoring his friends, who are unsuccessfully trying to keep their laughter at bay.

"Yeah, I'll be doing some book-shopping later. Care to join me?"

"I'd love to. Want to meet at Obscurus Books at around one o'clock?"

"Sounds good," she says with a grin before waving at them. "Bye guys! See you later, Remus! Enjoy the rest of your summers!" And with that, she gets lost in the crowd.

Sirius and James loop their arms around Remus' neck from either side of him. "Remy is in _wuv_," Sirius mocks.

Remus glares at them. "Really mature, guys."

"It's adorable," James gushes in a falsetto voice.

"It is _not_!"

"You two are rather cute," Peter adds. "She does like you a lot."

Remus flushes. "Yeah, that's because we're _friends_. Why would she ever want to go out with a guy like me?"

"Who _wouldn't_? You're mature, a gentleman, smart…you're quite a catch, my friend. Stop this belittling of yourself. It's unattractive," James says, ruffling Remus' hair with his free hand.

Remus wants to point out his _furry little problem_ being a key factor, but Sirius exclaims, "Look! We're at Flourish and Blotts! Let's get some textbooks!"

James and Sirius disentangle themselves from Remus, who quickly tries to fix his hair.

* * *

"Why do we have so many textbooks?" Sirius complains.

"We are taking a number of N.E.W.T.-level classes," Remus says, struggling with his bags.

"Can we just use magic and shrink them?" Peter says.

James looks around at the crowd, before inconspicuously pointing at his shopping bags, muttering a charm that would make them pocketsize.

The rest of the boys quickly follow suit.

"Alright, let's go get ice cream."

Sirius beams, bringing Remus into a headlock. "Best thing that came out of your mouth today!"

"Can people stop messing my hair! I look like a moron!" Remus says, his voice muffled as Sirius gives him a noogie.

"Not as much of a dolt as James looks," Sirius comments, releasing Remus.

James shoves Sirius. "I can't help it! It's a Potter gene."

"An unfortunate one at that."

"Your children will be cursed with it," Remus adds.

James grumbles incoherently as they make their wait to Florean Fortescue's for some much needed ice cream.

When they find a table outside and start digging into their large sundaes, Sirius casually asks, "So, Moony, when are you going to ask Thea Driscoll out?"

Remus groans, practically slamming his spoon onto the table. "Can we _drop_ this?"

"No. You two are just too damn _cute_."

Remus grimaces at Sirius' usage of the word _cute_. "Ugh."

"Why don't you ask her out to Hogsmeade?" Peter suggests before taking a large spoonful of hot fudge.

"Because that would constitute as taking her out on a date, which is not appropriate for friends."

James rolls his eyes. "You won't be rejected, that's for sure."

Remus pauses. "I don't know. If we were to start dating…I'm going to have to start deliberately lying to her every month. Right now I can get away with general lies about where I go because we don't usually hang out beyond meals and the library. I don't want to have to lie to her," he confesses in a low voice.

"What if you told her?" Peter proposes.

Sirius, James, and Remus look at Peter as if he's insane.

"What? It's just an idea!" Peter defends himself. "Moony is rather close with her, right?"

"Yeah, but not _that_ close."

"Frankly, I'm surprised she hasn't figured it out yet," James ponders out loud.

"I'm not," Remus says heavily. "While she's bright…she can be a bit clueless, Merlin forgive me. The most obvious things go over her head."

"Makes sense she's in Hufflepuff, then," Sirius mutters.

"Hufflepuffs aren't _stupid_," Remus retorts sharply. "They're very nice people."

"The house does have good blokes, don't get me wrong, but come on: they're not known for having the smartest people."

"They always support us in Quidditch; they're good in my book," James adds.

Remus shakes his head. "Why am I friends with you dunderheads?"

"Because we're insanely charming," Sirius answers with a grin.

"Hardly," Remus mutters, eating his sundae.

After a few minutes of silent eating, Sirius points out, "Eating that sundae pretty quickly, aren't we? Want to go to that bookstore and meet Thea?"

Remus groans. "I'm _not_ eating fast! Look who's talking!"

"Yeah, but I _always_ eat fast. _You_, on the other hand, take twenty years to finish a meal."

"Stop picking on me! Thank Merlin I'm leaving you guys. You always drive me insane at this point of the outing."

James reaches into his pocket and hands Remus a few galleons.

"_James_! I can't take this much!" Remus exclaims, refusing to take them.

"Yes, you can. You did me a huge favor. Treat yourself, mate. Go. You'll probably kill Sirius in about five minutes if you stay."

Remus sighs, knowing better than to argue this further. He slowly takes the galleons from James' outstretched palm. "Thank you," he says before getting up from the table and leaving.

"Have fun!" Sirius calls out, waving obnoxiously.

Quicker and more subtly than the Marauders thought possible, Remus gives an obscene hand gesture to Sirius before turning on his heel and walking away.

"Whoa. That was…_harsh_," Sirius says in complete awe. "I don't know whether to be proud of him…or to just drop dead in shock."

James grins, and in the corner of his eye, he thinks he sees a flash of too familiar red. Whipping his head quickly, he scans through the crowd; disappointed when he can't find whom he was looking for.

"What're you doing?" Peter asks, taking Remus' half-finished sundae and eating it.

"Nothing…I thought I saw someone. Never mind. Quality Quidditch Supplies?"

* * *

Lily enters Obscurus Books with a list in hand. She's been keeping track of books she's heard of over the summer, or read in the bibliographies of others. What she didsn't expect is seeing Remus by a shelf, standing with Thea Driscoll.

If Remus is here…that must mean the other Marauders are here.

Well, not in this specific store – she doubts Sirius Black has set foot in here once. And wherever Sirius is, James Potter certainly is. Relieved with this piece of knowledge, she heads over to Remus and Thea, the latter of whom laughs freely at something Remus says before clapping a hand to her mouth to stifle it.

Lily smiles at them, noting how cute they really are.

"Hey guys," Lily says with a grin and a wave.

Thea looks over to Lily and smiles brightly. "Hi, Lily! How are you?"

"I'm well, thanks, and yourself?"

"Good!"

Lily looks to Remus, who is staring at her with a shocked expression. "Hey, Lily…"

Thea looks between the two with a furrowed brow.

"Have you bumped into James yet?" Remus finally asks.

Lily shakes her head. "No. So…you're all here?"

Remus nods. "We go together every year."

From the corner of Lily's eye, she can see Thea smile at them a little before delicately retracting from them, standing a few feet away, glancing at the books on the shelves. Lily's thankful for Thea's understanding.

"Do you…want to see him?" Remus asks quietly.

Lily looks away from him.

"I thought you guys were going to try and be friends?"

Lily sighs. "I know…but I'm with my friends, too."

Remus cocks his head to the side, wondering what the comment means, before it finally clicks. "You haven't told them, have you?"

"How am I going to tell them, huh?" Lily demands in a whisper, crossing her arms defensively.

"The same way James told Peter and Sirius: to their faces," Remus retorts with a hint of frustration. "Lily…what exactly was your plan on September first when you finally see each other on the platform? Did you plan on humiliating him when he would no doubt come up to you, expecting a friendly greeting?"

"Of course not! I'm not that heartless!" Lily sighs, running a hand through her dark red hair. "I don't know what I was planning to do."

"I swear, Lily, you _better_ not brush James off, whether you tell your friends beforehand or not. I think it's best to tell them before the school term begins instead of shocking them in September, but that's just my belief on the matter."

Lily looks up at the ceiling, feeling her eyes prickle a little. "You don't understand, Remus, how difficult it will be telling them this. For _years_ I've put up with my friends taunting me about James and our _relationship_. They'll _never_ stop bothering me about it when I tell them about _this_."

Remus shrugs. "You could've chosen not to forgive James, then. He would've ignored you, if that was what you wanted."

"I couldn't do that. After the letter he wrote?"

Remus smiles a little at how Lily quickly and passionately denied his comment. "Okay, well…have you thought about just telling your friends how you don't like their making fun of you? They might surprise you on how well they take it."

Lily shakes her head. "I'm sorry. I'm being stupid."

"It's understandable. James certainly has made your affairs public."

"I'll say," Lily murmurs bitterly. "Okay. I'll tell them. Today. So I won't be seeing James…can you not tell him you saw me?"

Remus nods. "I won't. If you want to avoid them, just don't go into Quality Quidditch Supplies. And avoid Florean Fortescue's if you can. And Gambol and Japes, of course…but I doubt you would be going in there, anyway."

Lily smiles at him. "I would hug you out of appreciation, but I should let you get back to Thea," she says with a little wink and a squeeze of his arm. She walks past him before he can make a comment.

She taps Thea, who is engrossed in a book, on the arm and says quietly in her ear, "Sorry for barging in – I needed to talk to Remus about a certain problem. He's all yours."

Thea glances up at Lily, her soft blue eyes meeting Lily's brilliant green ones. "You mean your budding friendship with James Potter?"

Lily freezes, making Thea smile. "I'm very good at pretending to not pay attention. It's okay, your secret's safe. Whom would I tell?"

Lily lets out a breath of relief. Of course Thea won't tell anyone – she's not really friends with Lily's friends. In fact, Thea and Lily aren't very close to begin with – they just happen to share a very good friend, Remus, in common.

"Cheers. Well…I better go. I'll see you in September."

Thea shuts her book and waves at Lily, who walks out of the bookstore. Before she gets lost in the bustling crowd, she glances through the bookstore window at Remus and Thea, who are standing together again, with Thea handing over the book she was pretending to read before. She smiles at them and then walks over to Flourish and Blotts, where she left her friends.

* * *

Lily is sitting with her friends in Florean Fortescue's (she double-checked the place, making sure Potter and his gang weren't there), waiting for them to wipe the blank, shocked expressions off their faces.

"So let me get this straight…" Lily's tallest friend, Steph, starts, her ice-blue eyes wide in disbelief.

"James Potter wrote a letter to you, _apologizing_ for all the stunts he pulled over the past five years, and asked for you guys to be friends?" Lily's other friend, who has an angled bob cut, Dorcas, finishes for Steph.

Lily's quietest friend, Sharon, stares unnervingly into Lily's eyes through her square glasses. "So you guys are…friends? For lack of a better term?" Sharon inquires, fixing her glasses so they rest higher on the bridge of her nose.

Lily nods. "Yeah."

Steph starts giggling.

Lily glares at her. "I _don't_ want to hear it."

"Oh, come on, Lils. This is great! It's like a second chance for you guys to –"

"_No_! It's _not_! We're not even really friends. We're barely acquaintances. And if you make one more snide comment about it, I'm going to curse you into next _year_."

Steph holds her hands up in defeat. "Okay, okay. No need to get so defensive, Lily."

"I think it's nice. We don't have to put up with your screaming in the corridors anymore. I swear, your voice can crack class sometimes," Sharon says.

"I think it has. Remember that time in Third Year when James gave her that card on Valentine's Day that wouldn't shut up?" Dorcas points out.

"Oh _yeah_. That was bloody annoying. Couldn't find a way to get rid of it."

"And then Lily stomped up to James and threatened to blow up his family jewels if he didn't destroy it," Dorcas finishes with a laugh. "Never seen the guy looked so frightened in his life."

"But it turned him on, definitely," Steph says.

"Without a doubt."

They all start laughing, except for Lily, who's looking up at the sky, and if praying for patience. Or for a strike of lightning to kill her off.

"But we get it. No more teasing, we promise," Sharon says.

"Well…not a _lot_ of teasing. I mean come on, you can't really expect us to just stop, right?" Steph corrects Sharon.

Lily sighs in defeat. "Okay."

But she feels a lot better having told her closest friends about James, although she's still surprised at how angered Remus was about the whole situation. Yes, she knows Remus has a stronger loyalty to James than to her, but for the first time, he was completely on James' side.

Remus wouldn't do that unless James was in the right, the more mature one.

She doesn't like the idea of her being less mature than James Potter.

"I can't believe you waited _this_ long to tell us," Dorcas laments. "Are we not your best mates?"

"You can't blame her, could you? She was worried about our reactions," Sharon points out.

Steph shrugs. "Honestly, they're well deserved. Especially with all the fuss Lily put up about it for the past few years."

"Okay, now that I've told you, and you've accepted it, can we go back to shopping?"

"Yeah, yeah. But expect some sporadic mocking."

Lily sighs with a smile, shaking her head. "Alright."

* * *

"So, how was your date?"

Remus slams his bag of recently purchased books at Sirius, who barely manages to dodge.

"Geez! You crazy bastard!"

"It wasn't a date, damn it!"

"Ooh, Remy is _cursing_."

"I hate you so much."

"How is she?" James inquires as they walk over to Madam Malkin's.

"Good. We're going to be in all the same classes, pretty much. She thinks she wants to be a Healer."

"Does she know what she wants to specialize in? There are a lot of options."

"I think she wants to work in the Janus Thickey Ward."

They all wince. "Ugh. You have to be really strong minded to work there. It's so depressing…all those insane people?" Peter says, shuddering.

"She does like helping others, so it makes sense," Remus explains.

"So…that's it? Nothing happened? No snogging behind book-stacks?" Sirius pushes, making Remus flush.

"No! Of course not!"

"_Bo-ring_."

"Can we stop talking about my _nonexistent_ love life? _Please_?" Remus hisses as they entire the shop.

"Lay off him, Padfoot. We've mocked him enough for today," James tells Sirius as he goes to the pick-up desk to pay for the robes.

"You mean _I've_ mocked him enough today._ You've_ barely participated!" Sirius exclaims.

James hands Madam Malkin a handful of galleons and grabs the bag of neatly folded robes off the table. "I already mocked him earlier this summer," he half-lies as they leave the shop.

James notices Remus smile a little behind Sirius.

"Besides, there will be more mocking to come when Moony here asks her out on a date!"

The smile slips off Remus' face.

"You guys are such wankers," Remus mutters.

"Let's go back to the Potter's! I can't wait to eat," Sirius says, hanging his tongue out for a few seconds.

James taps Sirius' jaw closed. "Easy, boy."

"Honestly, Prongsie, besides Hogwarts, your house has the best food."

"A distant relative of mine was a chef – that's where we get all the recipes from," James says, stopping in front of a fireplace. He grabs a handful of floo powder and steps inside.

Calling out the location of his home, as he's throwing down the powder, he catches that color red that only belongs to Lily Evans.

She whips her head and they manage to look at each other for a few moments before the green flames consume him and sending him across the country.

"Fuck!" he curses when he lands in his fireplace. She _was_ in Diagon Alley at the same time! How annoying that he missed an opportunity to really talk to her face-to-face.

He gets out of the fireplace just as Sirius lands in.

"Hey, Prongs! You won't believe it – Evans was a few feet away from us!"

James groans and collapses on the nearest couch. "I _know_."

Sirius pats James on the back in sympathy. "Well, you'll see her in two weeks, anyway."

Remus enters the Potter's living room, his face already filled with compassion. "That's just unfortunate, Prongs," he says, taking a seat beside James' facedown head.

"Mehhh…"

After a few minutes and no Peter, they start growing concerned.

"You don't think…" Sirius starts.

"Oh, Merlin," Remus says, bringing his face into his hands. "Can we do anything?"

"Afraid not. He's gotta make his way back," James says, sounding extremely muffled, given that his face is still in the cushions of the couch.

Remus sighs. "Who do we even contact when this happens? I'm assuming you can alert someone."

"Yeah, I think there's a division in the Ministry…even though parents usually report missing _six-_year-olds who are just using the Floo Network for the first time," Sirius answers. "Probably won't believe us if we tell them that we're missing our sixteen-year-old mate."

"Let's give him a few more minutes before we do anything," James suggests, lifting his head from the couch.

At that moment, Peter shoots out from the fireplace, landing on his face.

"Peter!" they all exclaim, getting to their feet to help Peter off the ground.

"Where the hell did you end up?" Sirius asks.

Peter groans. "Okay. I took the floo powder, and right when I was about to state Prongs' house, I just sneezed, and I kind of let go of the floo powder…"

Remus slaps his forehead. "Geez…"

"_Where did you end up_?" Sirius demands again.

"…Somewhere in China…"

"Holy Merlin's pants!" James exclaims.

They all give James a weird look. "Holy Merlin's pants?"

James shrugs. "I don't know. First thing that came to mind. So you ended up in _China_?"

"Yeah, I think I scared the Chu family to death."

Sirius then starts laughing hysterically, tears streaming out of his eyes. "I get it! Achoo! When you sneeze! Hilarious!"

Remus and James start laughing as well.

"Not funny! They were trying to curse me, and of course I don't speak a word of Chinese, so it was just horrible! It took me forever to convince them that I needed to use their fireplace to get back to England."

Remus pats Peter on the back. "Oh, Peter…"

After Sirius wipes the tears off his face, he says to James, "Merlin's pants…we should totally try and make that a saying. You know, besides 'Merlin's beard!'"

"Okay. We'll start saying it in Hogwarts this year," James states with a nod.

"Are you joking? I was just in _China_ and was _attacked_ by little Asian people, and you guys are planning to popularize a saying of your own creation? Do I mean anything to you?" Peter wails.

"Of course you do! To prove it, we're going to have your favorite dishes made for supper," James says, looping his arm around Peter's neck.

As they walk to the kitchen, Peter says, "I like Merlin's pants."

They all laugh as they head toward the kitchen.

Later that night, as James is lying in bed, he thinks about seeing Lily through the green flames. His heart lurches into his throat and he closes his eyes tightly, trying to calm it down. It's so stupid to get worked up over seeing her for less than two seconds.

But he can't help it, and that scares him a bit. It's just because he fancies her, he tells himself, but in all honesty, it feels stronger than that.

Oh, Merlin's pants.

* * *

A/N: Somewhat-random question for all of you: when, exactly, did the "Werewolf Prank" happen - in the Marauders' 5th or 6th year? I was always under the impression that it happened in their 6th year, but according to the order of Snape's memories in DH, it seemed to have happened before the SWM incident, which was 5th year. And we all know that JKR, while brilliant, is somewhat terrible with dates and years. Thoughts?

Please review!

MissGoalie


	4. September 1st

A/N: Last one!

Standard disclaimers apply.

* * *

September 1st

"BOYS! PARDON MY LANGUAGE, BUT YOU BETTER GET YOUR ARSES DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW OR YOU'RE GOING TO MISS THE TRAIN!"

"I swear, Prongs, I'm in love with your mum," Sirius says in between gasps of breath as they run down the stairs with their trunks.

"If we weren't in such a hurry, I would push you down the stairs for disturbing me with that confession!" James retorts, looking ready to collapse.

With a flick of Mrs. Potter's wand, the boys' trunks shrink. Poppy is quivering in her cage.

"Don't tell me you're going to shrink Poppy, too!" James exclaims, hugging the cage protectively.

"Of course not! Now where the _hell_ is your father?"

"Right here, darling!" Mr. Potter says, lightly running to the living room.

"You take James and Poppy and I'll take Sirius to the station," Mrs. Potter directs, walking over to Sirius and grabbing his arm.

Before they Apparate, Sirius shoots a wink at James, making him want to kill Sirius.

"Have a good grip on Poppy, yeah?" Mr. Potter tells James.

For a moment, James is rather concerned for his father – will he be able to side-Apparate appropriately? Just in case, he holds Poppy's cage so tightly that the metal bars dig uncomfortably into his skin.

Mr. Potter holds James in a vice-like grip before turning on his heel. James keeps his eyes closed until he can hear the bustling crowds of King's Cross Station around him.

Letting out a sigh of relief, James loosens his hold on Poppy's cage.

"Missing any limbs?" Mr. Potter inquires jokingly, but there's some worry behind his bespectacled eyes.

"I'm good," James confirms, giving his father a reassuring smile. "Where's Sirius? And Mum?"

"Over there," Mr. Potter points a few meters over.

The quickly meet up, glancing at the clock, blanching when they notice they have five minutes to get on the platform.

"You better put your long legs to use!" Mrs. Potter says as they reach Platform Nine and Three Quarters.

She quickly brings James and Sirius into her so she can kiss them both on their cheeks. "Write often!"

"Love you, Mum, Dad," James says, getting a good look at his parents. He hopes nothing bad happens to them.

Mr. Potter squeezes both their shoulders. "Take care of yourself. And don't get into too much trouble."

Sirius and James grin before pivoting into a run through the barrier to the platform.

The Hogwarts Express toots its horn in warning.

"Bugger, shite, fuck," James mutters, pulling out his shrunken trunk and turning it back to normal.

Sirius does the same and they both drop off their trunks and Poppy before slipping onto the train just when the doors are about to close.

They lean against the wall, out of breath, laughing as the train coasts forward.

"That was the closest shave yet," Sirius states.

"It wasn't really fun, to be honest."

After catching their breaths for a minute, Sirius asks, "Want to go find Wormtail? Moony's already in the ickle Prefect's compartment by now."

"Where do you think he'd be?"

"Who knows. Let's just bust into every one, and if we find some Slytherins, we can surprise attack them. It's a win-win."

James shrugs. "Why not."

The first five or so had some strung-out First Years. James had to prevent Sirius from cursing them multiple times.

"Come on, mate. We can scar them later," James says, pulling him away from the doorway of some especially frightened ones.

As soon as they open the door of the next, a string of curses fly out, but they manage to jump out of the way. James peaks inside and discovers Snape, Avery, Mulciber, Rosier, and Wilkes inside.

Just when Snape is about to curse James again, James quickly calls out a counter curse, effectively knocking Snape out.

"Bloody hell," James mutters, shutting the compartment doors closed. "Nice to see you, too."

"You could've done so much worse to the slimeball!" Sirius exclaims.

"Sorry, wasn't really thinking. Let's keep looking," James says, continuing their search.

The next compartment is filled with Gryffindor girls – Third and Fourth Years, James thinks.

"Potter! Black! What brings you here?"

James and Sirius search the compartment, finding the source of the loud voice to belong to a girl with blonde hair and large blue eyes. She has a smirk on her face that effectively ruins the innocent features of her face.

"Driscoll! My favorite girl, what goes on?" Sirius says, leaning against the door.

A few of the girls turn pink and giggle.

"Could ask you the same question."

"We're looking for Peter. Seen him?"

"Pettigrew? No, sorry. Have you seen Thea? She has to proofread my essay for Transfiguration."

"Sorry, Tate, you're better off asking _Remus_ where she is," Sirius replies with a sly smile.

Tate rolls her eyes. "I'll look for her later. But if you bump into her on your search, tell her I need her."

"Will do. I'll see you lovely ladies later," Sirius says flirtatiously before shutting the compartment doors.

James stares at Sirius.

"What? If there's a female counterpart of me in the making, it's Tate Driscoll. She's a heartbreaker," Sirius defends. "I can't believe she and Thea are actually related. Totally different personalities."

"They do look a bit alike, though. And it's bloody _creepy_ that you're flirting with Third Years."

"First off, Tate is a Fourth Year. And she gets me! She knows I would never in a million years snog her! I want to make her my protégé of sorts."

"I doubt Thea would approve of that kind of relationship."

They search through a few more compartments, unsuccessfully finding Peter. Eventually, three-quarters of the way down, they _finally_ discover Peter napping alone in a compartment.

Sirius and James collapse onto the seats, causing Peter to jerk awake.

"I've been wondering where you were," Peter says with a bit of a slur before yawning.

"Yeah, you seem really concerned, there," James replies sarcastically, but with a smile. "Does Remy know where we are?"

"Yeah, we both got to the platform a little late, so that's why one so far back was the only one available."

"Well, hopefully Moony will be released soon enough. Last year he was there for almost the entire ride – those damn Heads were so annoying."

"I wonder who will be Heads in our year," Peter wonders out loud, somewhat out of the blue.

"Hopefully not a pair of Slytherins. Last year was a bloody nightmare," Sirius complains. "Who are they this year?"

"I think a Ravenclaw and a Gryffindor. Or is it a Hufflepuff? I know a Gryffindor is definitely one. I overheard some people talking earlier," Peter answers.

"Lily will be Head Girl," James says.

"What?"

"Peter just asked who the Heads would be in our year. I think Lily will be one."

"Of course you do," Sirius says while rolling his eyes.

James glares at him before saying, "I wonder if Moony would be one…"

"It's kind of rare to have two Heads from the same house," Peter points out.

"Yeah, but we just saw last year that we can. How wicked would that be?"

"I doubt it. I mean…you have to do a lot of work as a Head…would he be able to handle it? Especially with…you know…" Sirius adds the last part in a whisper.

"Oh…you're right. _But_, you never know. Dumbledore is kind of cracked."

"It's good that we even have a Marauder on the inside, anyway," Peter states. "Moony doesn't _need_ to become Head Boy." Suddenly, Peter starts cracking up, confusing James and Sirius.

"What're you laughing about?" Sirius asks.

"I was just thinking about one of _us_ being Head Boy along with Remus being a prefect."

Sirius and James join Peter along with his laughter. "That would prove Dumbledore is off his rocker," Sirius says in between laughs.

"It would be pretty brilliant," James adds, a look of wonder on his face. "Imagine all the things we could get away with…"

"To be quite honest, James, you get away with a lot."

Sirius, James, and Peter turn their heads to the compartment door, finding Remus standing there.

"Moony!" Sirius exclaims. "How was your meeting? Who are the new Heads?"

"A Hufflepuff girl, Allie Rogers, and a Ravenclaw boy, Willy Donovan, why do you care?"

Sirius rolls his eyes. "Nice job, Pete."

Peter shrugs his shoulders. "Sorry, misheard."

"We were just entertaining the completely impossible possibility of one of _us_, besides you, being Head Boy. You missed it – it was quite a laugh," James explains.

"I would seriously doubt Professor Dumbledore's judgment if one of you dolts were named Head Boy," Remus states, shutting the doors behind him and taking a free seat beside James.

"Do you want to be Head Boy, Remus?" Peter inquires.

Remus sighs. "No. It would be way too difficult with my…fixed schedule. I should probably inform him to take my name out of consideration. Even though I doubt I was even being considered in the first place."

James rolls his eyes. "Shut up. You're brilliant. A great prefect."

"I don't _do_ anything to you guys, _that's_ why you think I'm _brilliant_."

"Well, obviously, McGonagall and Dumbledore should've realized that you would never be able to reprimand us. But besides your slips with us, you're fair. Much fairer than the Slytherins, anyway. Even that git from Ravenclaw is power obsessed. I _really_ hope he doesn't become Head Boy next year, or we're fucked."

"You mean Smith? Not a pleasant fellow," Remus admits.

"Yeah, but his twin sister is a bloody great kisser," Sirius sighs.

"It's all your fault he has it out for us," Peter mutters.

Remus stares at Sirius with curiosity. "Wait, I had rounds with him for the last few weeks of school last term and he mentioned catching you snogging in a broom closet. Were you with –?"

"Yep. Best snog last term, definitely. Even though her brother rudely interrupted us."

"You're such a wanker," Remus sighs.

The compartment door opens slowly, and Sirius and James pull out their wands quickly in defense.

"Are you bloody nutters?" Remus exclaims.

"It's just Lily Evans!" Peter adds.

Sirius and James lower their wands sheepishly. "Sorry, we thought it was the Slytherins."

Lily fully opens the doors, a frown on her face. "And why would you think that?"

"Oh, well, we were looking for Peter, and we went searching through every compartment. Snivellus, Mulciber…that crowd tried to curse us," Sirius explains.

Lily narrows her eyes a bit. "Oh. What did you do?" she asks suspiciously.

"Jamsie here knocked Snape out!"

Lily looks to James, who's glaring at Sirius. "Sorry. It was kind of a defensive maneuver," James clarifies.

To the Marauders' immense surprise, Lily shrugs her shoulders. "As long as you didn't start it."

"So it _is _true – you're really not friends with Snivellus anymore?" Sirius asks in shock.

Lily sighs. "I would prefer that you didn't call him by that horrid nickname. But…yes. We're no longer friends." She sneaks a glance at James, wanting to see his reaction, but his face is strangely neutral.

"Hey…Potter…could we talk alone?" she asks after a silence that lasts a beat too long.

James is frozen in his seat for a few moments before he realizes that Lily just asked him a question. "Uh, yeah. Guys, leave."

"Are you serious?" Peter says without thinking.

Everyone groans, as Sirius exclaims, "No, I am!"

"You think that would've stopped being funny for him after _five years_," Lily mutters.

"No, I think it gets even _more_ amusing for him with every passing year," Remus responds somberly as he stands up. "Come on, Peter, Sirius."

Sirius sighs dramatically. "_Fine_. Oh! Driscoll wanted me to ask you if you've seen her sister."

Remus stares at Sirius perplexedly. "Huh? You're going to have to be more specific about which Driscoll you've spoken to."

"The wee lass."

"I haven't seen Thea yet. In fact, that can be our mission right now. _Let's go_."

Sirius takes his sweet time getting up. Remus rolls his eyes, allowing Sirius and Peter to exit the compartment first. "All yours," he says before shutting the doors behind him.

Lily and James stare at each other in the awkward silence.

"So, um…" James starts, feeling dumber with every passing second.

"Let's sit down," Lily offers.

"Great idea. Let's sit. Sitting is…great."

They sit down opposite each other. James feels even more awkward than before; why do his legs have to take up so much room? And for the matter, why the _hell_ is this so bloody _uncomfortable_?

"So…I thought we could talk about…what's happening with us," Lily starts, her hands folding neatly on her jean-clad lap. James loves seeing Lily in Muggle clothing. Honestly, if the Muggles got something right, it's the dress code. Forget about floo powder or Felix Felicis, form-fitting clothing is the best invention ever.

"Alright. We're…acquaintances, I'm assuming?"

"Friendly acquaintances, yes," Lily confirms.

"Right."

Silence again.

"So…I will also further presume that the few differences between last year and this year are that we won't be fighting, and we'll wave to each other in the corridors? Perhaps share a pleasant conversation or two in the classroom?" James lists, ruffling his hair out of sheer nervousness; he can't seem to find anything else to do with his hands.

"Exactly. I just wanted to make sure we were on the same page."

"Yeah, of course. I mean whatever you want."

Lily smiles. "Black seems okay."

"Yeah, it's all good. Except for his inability to access his family's vault, but that's fine."

Lily winces. "That's horrible."

James nods. "Yeah, but at least he'll be living with me until he gets his own place. That'll probably be a repeating argument at my house for the next year; my parents love him as if he were their second son."

Lily looks down at her hands. "That's really good."

They sit together in another silence, but it's a little less awkward than the last.

"So, uh, I didn't see you back there on the platform. Not that I was looking for you, specifically, I just noticed. I mean you do draw quite a lot of attention to yourself. Did you get here late?" Lily rambles, turning pink.

James bites back a comment about her really searching for him, but he figures that she wouldn't appreciate it. So he says, "Right when the doors were closing," with a hint of pride.

Lily smiles and shakes her head. "I wouldn't be surprised if next year you missed the train."

"I'd just have to make an alternative, grander entrance to Hogwarts."

"I don't doubt that."

They grin at each other.

"This is nice," James admits, before turning pink in the face. If Sirius could hear and see him now, he would be laughing his arse off.

Lily nods. "Yeah, it is."

Silence again.

"Er…I'm sorry."

She cocks her head to the side. "For what?"

"About Sniv-Snape."

She looks at him with a thunderstruck expression.

"I mean I'm not really. You know my feelings about him quite well, but I know you were close with him. It's his loss," he tries to explain himself, stuttering a bit in the process.

She smiles at him appreciatively. "Thanks, Potter. That's sweet of you." She stands up. "I should go, but I'm glad we talked. You know, before jumping in."

"People are going to talk, you know," he points out.

"I know. But at least _we_ know what's going on, which is most important."

"Right. Well…see you later…Lily? Evans? Do you care?"

Lily closes her eyes for a moment, thinking about what she wants. "Lily's fine. If you're comfortable with the switch. It'll probably take me some time getting used to calling you by your first name, but…"

James nods. "Alright. Until later, Lily."

Lily smiles, strangely liking how easily and wonderfully he says her name. "Bye, James," she says naturally, for a moment completely forgetting her previous statement about being unable to quicky transition to calling him by his first name.

James grins so brightly that Lily suddenly realizes that she doesn't care if it has just taken her all of two seconds for her to make that transition.

This will be the start of something…interesting. But what else could she expect? This _is_ James Potter, after all.

She gives him a shy smile before shutting the compartment doors, leaving him alone.

James jumps to his feet, silently cheering, as if he had just watched his favorite team win the Quidditch World Cup. Of course, right in the middle of it, his friends come back to the compartment and catch him in the act.

Remus breaks the awkward silence first by asking, "Prongs…what the hell are you doing?"

James lowers his hands and clears his throat. "Nothing."

"He was in the middle of congratulating himself on a job well done," Peter offers, munching on a Chocolate Frog.

Sirius glances from Peter to James. "You guys sealed the deal in that short of time? Prongs…I don't know whether to be proud of you for managing to charm her so quickly, or disappointed that you didn't last very long."

James turns scarlet. "Not like _that_, you twisted wanker! We talked about being friends and stuff. And there was no yelling involved. Quite a brilliant feat on my part."

Remus shakes his head, but he's smiling. "A job well done, indeed."

James beams with pride, very much like a child being praised by his parents.

"Don't let it get to your head," Remus warns James.

James waves his friend off. "Yeah, yeah. So! We obviously can't let Snivellus and those gits get away with trying to curse us. What can we do?"

Remus sighs. "And we're back to normal."

Sirius grins mischievously. "I have a few ideas in mind…"

James grins in way he's sure to be identical to Sirius', but as he's listening to his friend's suggestions, he always makes sure that they won't cause any possible disruption between him and Lily. Wow, he's a bit of a pansy, isn't he?

But when he gets off the Hogwarts Express and sees Lily through the bustling crowd and she smiles at him, he realizes he doesn't care, because she's completely worth it.

* * *

A/N: The End! I hope you enjoyed this! I'll probably use these characterizations (and my originals) in another story in the future, so keep an eye out!

Please review! It's your last chance!

MissGoalie


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